Boys basketball: Oasis captures Ore Cart trophy

The Oasis Academy boys basketball team has some work to do if it wants to make the playoffs in its first season in the Northern 2A.

After winning one out of three games last week, the Bighorns host North Tahoe and Pershing County this week before ending the regular season at Sierra Lutheran. Oasis Academy’s lone win came in the Battle of the Ore Cart against Coral Academy.

Oasis Academy (5-10) sits in seventh behind Pershing County (7-9) for the final playoff spot and it will need to win at least two games and have some help. But before Oasis Academy faces Pershing County, it hosted North Tahoe (9-6) on Wednesday. After the game against the Lovelock school on Friday, the Bighorns end at Sierra Lutheran (3-13) on Saturday.

In last Monday’s home game against Incline (15-10), the No. 2 team in the region, Oasis Academy lost 59-46 despite falling behind early.

The Bighorns shot 5-of-22 from the field and committed 13 turnovers in the first half to trail by 25 points. They responded in the second half by shooting 50 percent (14-of-28) and cut the turnovers in half to outscore the Highlanders 22-20.

"I don't know what sparked them into their second half about face,” Oasis Academy coach Don Schank said. “It sure wasn't my halftime speech. It was great for them to see a glimpse into the team they can be and now they realize that potential."

Fenn Mackedon led the team with 30 points, Matthew Bird scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Trevor Barrenchea and Hunter Adams each had four points. Barrenchea led the team with eight rebounds, and Austin Booker and Bird each had a team-high four steals. Booker also had four blocks.

In Wednesday’s Battle for the Ore Cart against Coral Academy in Reno, the Bighorns won, 61-21, as Oasis Academy won the trophy. Although the Oasis Academy’s girls basketball team lost, 46-24, the Bighorns won the cumulative score, 85-67.

“The ore cart game is a big deal to our school and winning it six of the last seven years is an accomplishment they are very proud of,” Schank said.

Mackedon led three players scoring in double figures by finishing with 18 points and eight rebounds. Barrenchea scored 14 points and had a team-high five steals, and Bird added 12 points. Hunter Adams scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds, Booker scored seven points and Logan Casey added two.

The Bighorns capped off the week with a 65-45 loss at North Tahoe on Saturday.

A 16-point run in the second quarter allowed North Tahoe to turn a six-point lead into 23. Mackedon left the game in the second quarter due to a knee injury, but the Bighorns responded by outscoring the Lake Tahoe school by three points in the second half.

"Fenn's injury was devastating to the team but I am so proud of the way the players responded to that scoring and defensive void,” Schank said.

Barrenchea and Bird stepped up to lead the team in scoring with 12 points apiece, and Booker added eight. Mackedon finished with five points, Benton Snow scored three, and Eli Jones and Casey each had two. Bird led the team in rebounds with six.

Oasis Academy’s girls team defeated Incline, 31-16, before falling to Coral Academy, 46-24, and North Tahoe, 45-21.

No individual statistics were available.